


Younger Than the Forest, Older Than the Trees

by Anonymous



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Smaug, Community: hobbit_kink, M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-26
Updated: 2013-07-26
Packaged: 2017-12-21 10:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/899473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: "Sometimes it's easy for Thorin to forget that Thranduil is actually an ancient being that has seen and experienced things he's only heard stories about."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Younger Than the Forest, Older Than the Trees

"Who would ever have thought," Thorin murmured, "that such love could grow between an elf and a dwarf?" He ran his fingers through pale gold hair, and paused to tenderly touch the tips of pointed ears.

Thranduil smiled at his lover and tilted his head to gently rest their foreheads together. Neither of them had spoken those words aloud before, but the thought had always hung unsaid between them. "Not I, my love," he replied. "I confess to you, I once mocked the very idea of such a thing. When I heard the news that Celebrimbor of Eregion had taken up with a dwarvish craftsman, I laughed in scorn and said that it was his grandfather's madness coming out in his blood at last. I told my father, before the whole court, that I must thank him again for his wisdom in leading us east to the Greenwood and leaving the Noldor lords to their follies, putting a mountain range safely between ourselves and them."

Thorin frowned as he ignored the talk of obscure Elvish grudges in favor of the important part of Thranduil's reply. "An elf who took up with a dwarven craftsman...surely you do not mean the elven jewel-smith who was beloved of Narvi the great stonemason, in Khazad-dûm an age ago?"

"Narvi? Yes, perhaps that was the dwarf's name."

"And you say you _heard the news_ of this?" Thorin drew back in surprise. "But that was four thousand years ago or more, in the reign of Durin the Third!"

"I suppose it was," Thranduil answered lightly, but Thorin was staring at him.

"How old _are _you, Elvenking?" he demanded, his voice sharp with astonishment and--though he would never admit it--a touch of awe.__

__Thranduil hesitated, taking in the sudden distance in his lover's manner. After a moment he deliberately smiled the enigmatic smile he knew his dwarf found supremely irritating. "How old am I? Younger than Celeborn and Galadriel of Lothlorien, who have an unfortunate tendency to think of me as a mere stripling still," he intoned._ _

__Thorin scowled at the evasive answer._ _

__"I am much the same age as Elrond Peredhel," Thranduil continued serenely. "Perhaps a little younger or older than he. Would you care to guess which?" He raised a brow in faintly amused challenge._ _

__Thorin was now growling outright. The awe in his eyes was long gone, replaced with familiar annoyance, and Thranduil's expression melted into a true smile. He expected respect from his subjects, but from his lover he wanted nothing more than Thorin's own solid, resolutely unimpressed self._ _

__"I am younger than the forest, but older than a tree, and I am afraid you will have to be content with that," he said, brushing his fingers against Thorin's cheek._ _

__"Ah well," Thorin replied, "I shall continue to put up with you, I suppose." He slid one broad hand behind Thranduil's neck and pulled the laughing elf down for a kiss._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Thranduil being vague about his age, in honor of how vague Tolkien is about Thranduil's age! :D
> 
> [TL;DR]  
> Personally I'd estimate that at the very oldest, Thranduil was born sometime in the First Age and was too young to do anything much in the War of the Jewels which is why he's not mentioned; this would make him ~7000 years old max. And at the youngest I'd estimate he was born around year 1000 of the Second Age, which is apparently about when Oropher went east to the Greenwood, making Thranduil ~5400 years old. (And Celebrimbor and Narvi's ~~love affair~~ friendship was maybe roughly SA 1600, assuming they constructed the Doors of Moria for Durin III and not for Durin II. [[thank you](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durin), Wikipedia!])  
>  [/TL;DR]
> 
> And to complete the utter nitpickiness of the time calculations in this end-note... the oldest known trees are about 5000 years old. So yes, Thranduil is indeed [probably] older than any tree. :)


End file.
